Consider the following statements : The Reserve Bank of India's recent directives relating to 'Storage of Payment System Data', popularly known as data diktat, command the payment system providers that 1. they shall ensure that entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India 2. they shall ensure that the systems are owned and operated by public sector enterprises 3. they shall submit the consolidated system audit report to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India by the end of the calendar year Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only ✓ UPSC's answer
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Why the answer is (a)
• The RBI's April 2018 directive on Storage of Payment System Data required all system providers (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, etc.) to store the entire data of payments they process in systems located only in India, within six months (statement 1).
• Statement 2 is wrong: it said nothing about public-sector ownership of systems.
• Statement 3 is wrong: the audit report by a CERT-In empanelled auditor was to be submitted to the RBI, not the CAG.
• The move aimed at supervisory access and data security; foreign firms lobbied against it but complied.
• Hence 1 only, option (a).
Why the other options are wrong
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- Statement 2 is wrong: no public-sector ownership requirement.
- (c) 3 only
- Statement 3 is wrong: reports go to the RBI, not the CAG.
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
- Statements 2 and 3 are wrong.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2019, held on 2 June 2019. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.